That is one of the several findings of the Pew Research Center, which analyzes how rapid digital shifts are reshaping Americans’ news habits.
For publishers/editors and designers, it is imperative that we understand the dynamics of interaction between audience and the news content we produce. And, while there are few surprises in any of 10 key findings from recent Pew Research Center surveys,
I have singled out three that are must see for anyone in the publishing business today.
I continue to affirm it, too: of all five platforms in the media quintet, it is mobile that is becoming a preferred device for digital news. According to Pew:
“The portion of Americans who ever get news on a mobile device has gone up from 54% in 2013 to 72% today. Two-thirds (66%) of Americans get news on both desktop/laptop and mobile, but more of those prefer mobile (56%) than desktop (42%).”?
What it means: When you think of developing new products and new editions, work your way from the smallest screen to the biggest canvas. Mobile first, of course.
We knew that our audiences sink their teeth into long-form stories. What is a bit of news is that those long narratives are often consumed on a cell phone.
“Cellphone users spend more time on average with long-form news articles than with short-form. In fact, the total engaged time with articles 1,000 words or longer averages about twice that of the engaged time with short-form stories: 123 seconds compared with 57. And on average, long-form content attracts about the same number of visitors as short-form content.”
What it means: Develop new ways to facilitate the consumption of long pieces on mobile devices. For the writers—emphasize shorter paragraphs, more subheads to create internal navigation, and watch how you mix text and other media. We know that readers don’t like too many interruptions when they are reading. Better to offer links and “also related” items than to incorporate them in the midst of the long narrative. While we live in the journalism of interruptions, we owe our readers as few interruptions as possible while they sink their teeth into our stories.
While Facebook and other social media outlets do not consider themselves as publishers, it is there that the news trajectory begins for many.
“Overall, 62% of U.S. adults get news on social media, and 18% do so often. However, news plays a varying role across the social networking sites studied. Two-thirds of Facebook users (66%) get news on the site, which amounts to 44% of the general population. Nearly as many Twitter users say they get news on Twitter (59%), but due to Twitter’s smaller user base this translates to just 9% of the general population.”
What it means: You must have your social media strategy in place, complete with a social media coordiantor/editor. You must also try to lure those readers who come for one specific story to read a second or third story. Not easy, but a challenge worth pursuing (it’s called survival).
Let’s face it: we used to come to the news when we were ready for it, usually morning (print), evenings (television). Now the news grabs us by the neck when it needs our attention, usually during a 24/7 cycle that never stops. Of course, there are news junkies who do pursue the news with gusto during the course of the day (count me in as one of those).
“Overall, more digital news consumers get their news online in the process of doing other things online (55%) than specifically seek out the news (44%), though there are differences by social media platform. About six-in-ten YouTube (58%), Facebook (62%) and Instagram (63%) news users get their news online mostly by chance while they are online doing other things, and they are less likely to say they were looking for news. However, Reddit, Twitter and LinkedIn news users are just as likely to say they seek out news online as to say they happen upon it.”
What it means: Develop a philosophy internally for how your news product offers lean forward and lean back moments. Develop a strategy for a sense of “editioning” and make sure that you can create a balance between how news alerts pop up in the lives of your readers, while not saturating them or turning them off. If anyone has developed a successful formula for this, please share it with me.